Navigation plan hits turbulence

EUROPE’S biggest airlines have written to the Commission complaining that the EU is backing an expensive new flight navigation system which does not meet their demands, but which they may nevertheless have to pay for.

The airlines’ worries focus on the Union’s first tentative steps towards winning a stake in the lucrative satellite navigation market, as the European Commission reflects on the best way forward.

Officials are weighing up whether they should support a much broader strategy for an independent European satellite navigation industry or rely instead on getting the right access at the right conditions to more advanced US and Russian systems.

The Commission is due to announce the main outlines of its strategy by the end of the year. But concern over its approach is already growing.

The letter from the Association of European Airlines (AEA) to Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock attacks Commission support for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS).

Through new satellite links and ground stations, EGNOS will fill in some of the gaps, building on the positioning systems already developed for military purposes by the former Cold War superpowers.

The first phase of the project is due to be up and running in 1999.

But the AEA claims that the new system will not bring any advantage to its members, since current navigation techniques are sufficient for positioning aircraft during flights and it will not be enough on its own for the vital stages of journeys such as the approach and descent for landing in difficult conditions.

“A supplementary system would be necessary for that,” said a spokesman for the association.

Even though the new technology is inappropriate, European airlines are worried that they will have to foot the bill for it through higher en route navigation charges levied by the European air traffic control organisation, Eurocontrol.

Industry sources claim that Commission support for the new system is an example of the tail wagging the dog.

“EGNOS is, in fact, there for the European aerospace industry. There is no European satellite navigation industry and European companies need to have a market,” said one. The market for global navigation satellite systems is expected to be worth around 45 billion ecu by the year 2005.

Kinnock highlighted the difficult strategic choice facing the Commission over satellite technology at a conference last month.

He said European cooperation in developing a world-wide system was the preferred option, but added that the EU should go it alone if this was not realistic, or if the Union did not get enough control over the management of the new global system or adequate opportunities to win a stake in its development.

One worry is that the US and Russian systems will be inappropriate as the foundation for a world-wide system in the long run, since civilian needs will always be given lower priority than defence applications.